


Finding Himself

by pinkoreo0210



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ADHD!Lance, All of the headcanons, Autistic!Keith, Bisexual!Lance, Galra!Keith, M/M, non binary!Pidge, now with Pansexual!Allura, we all know at this point right?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-22 10:51:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7433877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkoreo0210/pseuds/pinkoreo0210
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was insane!  He wasn’t an alien, he was born on Earth, he was a human, a human with two normal parents…he assumed.  After all, his mother had died when he was very young, and he never knew his father, so he supposed he didn’t have any concrete proof that he was human, but he had spent his whole life not even knowing other forms of life existed!</p><p>No matter how Keith tried to rationalize his thoughts, he couldn’t shake the instinct he had that he was right, that he must actually be part alien, even part Galra.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Surprise!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just like puberty, right?

Keith groaned, his bangs slick with sweat, and turned for what felt like the tenth time in his bed. It was a few hours after the team had collectively called it a night, and while the extensive training usually led to Keith falling right asleep, he had suddenly started feeling unwell. The problem was, this pain was unlike anything Keith had ever experienced before (and he had experienced enough pain). Instead of the sharp jab of a wound, or the dull ache of a pain, he felt as if his skin was being melted off the bone. Every part of his body vibrated with unused energy, and the teenager was seriously considering waking someone else up for advice.

Deciding that sleep would be unreachable until the pain subsided, he slowly rose out of bed, shuffling to his bedroom’s connecting bathroom. He reached for the faucet handles, and splashed some cool water on his face. However, as he looked up to see himself in the mirror…

“What the-?!” he shouted at the mirror, wondering if the pain had affected his vision. Instead of his normal reflection, Keith saw-

“But how…?” he whispered in shock, cautiously rubbing his strangely positioned furry ear, turning several times to see the purple skin pigment from multiple angles.

With another, shorter and more startled shout, Keith thought back to the countless times he had interacted with either the Galra or their technology. How he had somehow found his way around the Galra ship, how he had closed the bay doors on the Balmera planet by touching the Galra security screen, even when he was injured and his hand had turned the same unsightly shade of purple half his face currently was…

This was insane! He wasn’t an alien, he was born on Earth, he was a human, a human with two normal parents…he assumed. After all, his mother had died when he was very young, and he never knew his father, so he supposed he didn’t have any concrete proof that he was human, but he had spent his whole life not even knowing other forms of life existed!

No matter how Keith tried to rationalize his thoughts, he couldn’t shake the instinct he had that he was right, that he must actually be part alien, even part Galra.

Tears quickly began falling down his cheeks as he thought of the implications of this recent development. His team, his best friends all fought against Galra every day, taking out hordes of the aliens to try and save the universe from Zarkon’s unforgivingly cruel reign. How could he even approach any of them with this new information, whether he was right or not? What if they decided they couldn’t trust their teammate, knowing that he could be secretly working with the enemy? What if they kicked him off the team?! What if they left him stranded on the nearest hospitable planet-

He only just noticed he was hyperventilating at the idea of actually leaving his friends. Before he and the others had rescued Shiro, the only other important focus of his life had been training to become a fighter pilot back at the Garrison. Once he was expelled, his life almost lost meaning. If it hadn't been for that strange energy force calling to him, he might have even done something...drastic, he was so distraught at the thought of losing out on his chance to finally matter.

Shiro would handle it the most professionally, but even he would look at him with fear in his eyes, fear of Keith being like the very aliens that had tortured him for years of his life. The others would be even less subtle about their fear of their teammate. That was the most frightening thing to Keith: the fear that would replace the trust they had so carefully cultivated between each other. Pidge would carefully avoid him, Hunk would still be friendly even as he trembled like a leaf in the wind, even Allura and Coran would only be reminded of those that destroyed their home world and their way of life. Lance would be the worst of them all, now that his skepticism of the red paladin would be based on fact and not just some old rivalry. Even that thought was upsetting; he wasn't joking when he professed that he and Lance had had what he thought was a bonding moment. Over the last few months, they had actually grown a bit closer, and had just started to be able to enjoy each other's company, beyond the basic respect the teenagers had for each other. All of the friendships the socially stunted teen had desperately tried to cling to, gone in a flash. 

...He couldn't let the others know, at least not yet. Not while he barely understood any of these new developments himself. First, he had to do some research, make sure this wasn't a temporary effect of some spell (weirder things have happened). It also didn't bode well that their greatest enemy happened to be the alien species Keith might actually be, so...yeah, holding off on telling the others seemed like the best course of action.

For now, he had to try and change back to his normal human form. He refused to even think about the fact that this might be his new normal form, and instead focused on reverting back, trying to recall all of his human features in the mirror he was staring into. He stared at his eyes, willing them to turn back to their steely gray, willed his ears to shrink back to their normal size, and finally focused on changing his skin back to his normal pale complexion. Panting, overcome with the exertion of switching back to himself, he glanced at the clock. He spent almost an hour changing back, not good. If he ever changed in public, he would need a speedier recovery.

Now that the panic had subsided, Keith noticed he felt much better now than he had since he had attempted sleep. What could have caused his illness? Was it his body's way of telling him that he could only go so long without taking breaks to his other form? Or...was it his body's way of telling him that he was slowly changing to a Galra, until he could no longer become a human?!

Without the others' help, Keith would have to monitor this...whatever, closely. Reaching into his bedside table's drawer, he pulled out an old notebook and a pencil. The notebook was from before Voltron, when he was still tracking the lions' energy signature. Flipping to the middle to find the newest available page, he quickly jotted down what had just transpired, trying to remember what Coran had taught them about taking adequate mission reports. Satisfied with his log, he returned the notebook and pencil to their original place, and hesitated, retrieving them again and stowing them under his mattress. It was sensitive information, and whether or not someone was trying to be nosy, he didn't want to even think about the others' reactions to his little experiments.

Feeling much better now that the situation had not only been dealt with, but would be monitored closely, Keith finally fell asleep, the worries of the past few hours overshadowed by the paladin's appropriate exhaustion.

\----

Lance quieted his breathing, completely still against the wall beside the bedroom door. He could have sworn he heard a shout, not one of anger but more shock, and had decided to investigate, even more confused when he found that the sound originated from Keith's bedroom.

...Maybe the other teen was having a nightmare? Though the scream didn't sound as if it came from someone deep in sleep.

He decided to wait a few ticks. If it seemed like Keith was really having a hard time, with whatever caused the scream Lance presumed, he would just knock and see if he wanted some company. However, after aforementioned few ticks, the room became silent, as if its occupant had finally resumed his slumber. Temporarily satisfied, Lance shuffled back to his room, wondering if he should bring the incident up with the red paladin when they were in private. No matter the teasing they dished out towards each other, he wanted Keith to know that firstly Lance was his friend, and that if something was eating at him, he could discuss it with the best listener of the team (that wasn't true, the best listener is either Shiro or Hunk, but still).

He also decided that this newfound concern for a certain mullet haired teen could be addressed after he had had his beauty rest.


	2. Why Communicate When You Can Repress Your Emotions?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What exactly happened to the paladins after they were separated in the wormhole?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all of the lovely feedback! All comments, criticism, and questions are always welcome, as well as any fan art or anything that reminds you of the story. Will be trying to post about a chapter or two a week. Also, for anyone slightly confused, I refer to Pidge as "they/them" pronouns only, seeing as how they are technically a girl but haven't corrected anyone for referring to them as "him" after they came out, so... "They/Them" is Pidge!

The team thankfully left the fact that Keith was tardy to morning roll call undiscussed. After the wormhole incident, each of the paladins had their own demons, their own set of hellish nightmares, and while the group was not in outright denial of what each had done to return to the Castle of Lions, they never brought anything up. Since no one felt like sharing, and no one seemed to have been injured or scarred from their journey, they just ignored the times Pidge would flinch at a mechanical whir, and calmly snapped Shiro out of it when his meditation time stretched a bit too long to be considered healthy.

Keith’s journey had been surprisingly uneventful. The wormhole had taken him to a uninhabited planet, and while he was thankful for the lack of enemies, it made for a truly claustrophobic and paranoid week. While he struggled to chart his way back to the Castle of Lions' original coordinates (he really hoped Allura hadn't changed it’s position) he tried his best to ration whatever food Hunk had had the foresight to store in each of the lions. Not like he wasn’t used to it, he had been in charge of obtaining his own food when he was younger, and the time he spent in the shack had the occasional fasting when hunting game proved scarce. But after months of not worrying about things like rations, and hours spent bulking up from training exercises, the teen couldn’t go as long without food as he used to be able to. Thankfully, Coran had been able to triangulate his lion’s position by tracking his distress signal, and Keith had been the first to return to the Castle, followed closely by the others.

Now, another week later, and everyone was starting to return to their usual routine, albeit with a little less vigor. They were all incredibly tired after their rescue mission, followed by their trip through the wormhole, and even Allura was forgiving enough the past few days, though Keith suspected the princess was just overjoyed at the thought that the team was finally reunited, with all limbs intact.

Keith spent the rest of his morning eating breakfast with the others in a companionable silence, followed by the typical training. The only difference from any other day of training was that Keith swore Lance was staring at him, though only when he thought the red paladin wasn’t aware. It wasn’t a glare, more a look of thought, as if he was trying to come to some kind of conclusion.

While Keith knew it was unlikely this strange behavior had anything to do with the past night’s startling discovery, the staring still put him on edge, enough to mess up his footing during his spar with Shiro, landing him flat on his back.

“What’s your deal?!” he exclaimed at the other teen, who looked suddenly very sheepish and yet indignant.

“Nothing! I’m just watching you Keith, is that illegal now or something? Are we in some quadrant of space where I can’t look at certain people, should I start looking at your feet instead of making eye contact?” Lance responded, snapped out of his apparent reverie.

“Guys, calm down,” Shiro, ever the voice of reason, shifted in between the two, turning to Keith with a slight look of disapproval. “Keith, Lance is just trying to observe the spar to sharpen his hand to hand combat skills, same as both Pidge and Hunk,” he gestured to the others in turn, who truthfully had been watching the fight as intensely as Lance.

“It’s not just now, he’s been staring at me the whole morning!” Keith knew at this point he was starting to sound a bit childish but damn it! Lance was making him nervous, to the point where he was subconsciously checking his wrists to see if they were changing pigment.

“Well, I- I’m…sorry,” the darker teen admitted, shocking everyone in the room. “I just- I,” he made aborted hand movements, before bolting off the training deck.

“Real smooth,” Pidge commented, turning their sarcastic glare to Keith before running after their friend, Hunk shooting him a quick apologetic face before following. That just left him and Shiro, who was also shooting him a knowing look right now.

“Maybe you should meditate before you say anything else,” Shiro said quickly, cutting off whatever Keith was about to add, than leaving the deck as well.

\----

After trudging back to his quarters, Keith locked the door behind him, intent on following Shiro’s advice, albeit for different reasons. While he did feel guilty about snapping at Lance, he decided apologies could wait, as he suddenly had an idea. Maybe if he meditated long enough, he could clear his head of the clutter and remember something from his past, whether it be the cause of the sudden…changes, or a way to stop them.

Sitting cross legged on his bed, he tried to clear his mind, leaving behind all thoughts of Voltron, the team, and his duties to the universe as a paladin. In this space, he was just Keith, and he was long overdue to an epiphany of some kind.

So he waited…

And waited…

And waited…

“AHH!!” he shouted, throwing his pillow at the wall. This was no use, if he had no idea what he was supposed to be recalling, how could he remember any crucial information? Why was it that only he and Shiro could access Galra tech? Why did he turn into a Galra last night?! Why was it so hot in here-

“Oh no,” he whispered, before dashing to the mirror, revealing purple splotches covering his face and arms, and yet-

“No ears,” he thought aloud, “and my eyes haven’t changed.” Instead of resorting to panic like last night, he instead tried his best to calm down, focusing on his human form. After a good half an hour or so, his skin was back to its pale complexion, and Keith was scribbling frantically in his log book.

So stress seemed to be the major cause of his transformation, whether it be physical or mental seemed irrelevant, as long as his body was feeling particularly weak, which explained why he had completely changed last night. Meditation seemed to be a temporary cure, but what was the catalyst of this whole problem? It’s not like he was changing skin colors as he was going through puberty, so what-

“Creepy dude,” he said aloud, thinking back to his encounter with the Galra magic user. Almost a month ago, and yet he remembered the moment so vividly. Infiltrating the Galra base, tracking the Quintessence, the fear coursing through his veins as he suddenly realized he wasn’t going to win the fight. But nothing compared to the crippling terror he felt when he glanced down at his supposedly scorched hand, wondering in that moment if the pain would permanently handicap him. The only reason said hand had reverted to it’s normal pigment was the Quintessence that had doused Keith during the fight…

“I need some Quintessence, need to find out why that cures me,” he said to himself. He did that often, spoke aloud to himself, probably from all the time he spent in solitude in the shack. He grabbed his notebook and pencil, jotting down about his new breakthrough, than hid his log before leaving the room, deep in thought.

Who could help him with finding out more about this mysterious energy source? The obvious answer was Pidge, but they would probably find his sudden interest in the element suspicious, and start asking questions Keith couldn’t bring himself to answer. Hunk and Shiro weren’t experts on alien resources, Lance was…no, and Allura was busy strategizing Voltron’s next move, which left a certain mustached Altean to subtly question.

Keith moved quicker down the hall, intent on catching Coran while he was preoccupied with his daily chores.

\----

“That was weird, what happened with Keith and Lance earlier, right?” Hunk asked Pidge while wheeling out from a malfunctioning escape pod. Even though the Castle was quite an impressive ship, it was still millennia old, and seemed to need constant repairs and upgrades, at least to the long suffering engineer of the group.

The teen didn’t even glance away from their laptop screen. “Do you mean weirder than Lance and Keith usually act?”

“Yeah, like how Lance didn’t respond with any quips…and Keith usually isn’t that self conscious while he’s sparring. I mean, he usually is the center of attention when it comes to physical training, so why get so sensitive about Lance staring at him?” he responded, grabbing a towel from nearby to wipe some oil off his chin.

“Look, everyone’s been a little…off since the whole getting-lost-in-space incident. Maybe something happened to them while they were trying to get back to the Castle,” Pidge tried to assure him while simultaneously reworking the algorithms of their hacking program.

“Yeah, about that,” Hunk tapped the screen, gaining Pidge’s immediate, albeit slightly annoyed, attention, “shouldn’t we have like, a team intervention or something about that? Maybe talk about what everyone went through during the time they were separated from the group?”

“Hunk,” Pidge interjected, knowing that it was killing the resident mother hen of team Voltron to see everyone silently suffering, “even though you all knew that I was girl, none of you brought it up until I did. Why did you guys wait for me to reveal my secret to you?”

“Because it was your business, not ours,” he replied simply.

“Exactly. If the others want to talk about what happened during their time in the wormhole, they will. AND,” they added, already expecting the other’s rebuttal, “if it gets to the point where it endangers the team during a mission, we will have some kind of gathering, whether the affected party feels it necessary or not.”

“…So does that mean-”

“If Keith or Lance want to talk about it, they will,” they finished, speaking more confidently than they felt. Pidge knew how Keith operated, a real lone wolf type, and also knew that Lance was the type to let his sadness go unchecked to be the comedic relief of the atmosphere (he barely let the two of them console him after the morning incident). But pushing would get them nowhere, and for now, they just had to let them handle their problems in whatever way they saw fit.

“…Do you want to talk about what happened?” Hunk asked after a pause, seemingly nonchalant.

“No,” the smaller teen returned their attention to their laptop, before adding to not seem as rude, “what about you?”

“Nothing much to tell,” Hunk commented uninterestedly, returning back to the escape pod’s underbelly, “crashed on a small, friendly planet actually not under Zarkon’s control, met another race of aliens, promised I would visit some friends I made when I got the chance. Really primitive species, but thankfully the planet had enough raw energy and spare parts to fix my lion. Delicious cuisine though, we should stop by and pick up some of the fruit they had there.”

“Typical,” Pidge chuckled to themselves. Knowing Hunk he probably knows the life story of each alien he met while stuck on that planet. They chose to focus on their computer program instead of let their thoughts drift back to what happened while they were missing.

\----

“C’mon Lance,” the older man knocked once again at the blue paladin’s door, seemingly for the dozenth time, “can’t we just talk a bit?”

Lance knew that Shiro only meant well, but the teenager really wasn’t ready to discuss the events that transpired while he was missing. He knew that he was acting more reserved than usual, and was trying to get a handle on his attitude, but it was hard going back to his cocky and optimistic self after what had happened to him. He could still smell the sulfur, hear the crackling of the trees being burned to a crisp, feel the heat emanating onto his skin in increasingly strong waves…

Lance shook his head to dispel any of those thoughts, before opening the door to a surprised yet relieved Shiro. “I’m fine Shiro, I don’t need a little therapy session, or whatever you came here for.”

“Listen Lance, I don’t know what happened to each of you after we were split up,” the other started, looking at the floor in what Lance presumed was shame, “and I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to protect you guys. But I’m here now, and so is the rest of the team. Whenever you’re ready, just know that we’re here to be nothing but a supportive shoulder to lean on.”

Lance nodded with a grin that felt crooked on his face, before quickly excusing himself back to his room, trying desperately to think of anything but that stifling heat…


	3. Space Dad Shares with the Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro admits what happened during his time separated from the team, and a certain plot is finally kicked into starting!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks for all the comments, kudos, and criticism! Keep it all coming!

There were two ways Keith could approach Coran about the Quintessence without arousing the man’s suspicions. He could treat the information with importance, ergo his usual attitude, to make it seem as though he wanted the knowledge for future missions and reference. The only issue with that approach is if he gets too serious about the conversation, Coran might try to focus on it more intently. The other approach involves more nonchalance, and although it goes against his nature, he’ll need to act like he doesn’t really care about anything Coran is telling him. Hopefully the Altean is too preoccupied to understand exactly what Keith is asking him, or to be more specific, how much he is asking him.

Fortunately, Coran is cleaning the medical bay’s cryogenic pods when Keith stumbles onto him. Hopefully he’s in a relaxed mood.

“Hello Keith,” the man greets him contently, not stopping from his menial task, “would you like to help me wax the pods?”

“Yeah, sure,” Keith replies, grabbing a rag and some cleaning product from the floor. They both go to work for a bit, comfortable with the amicable silence, until Keith makes his move.

“Hey Coran?” He gets an acknowledging hum in response. “What exactly is Quintessence?” He hopes Coran misses the subtle twitch in his fingers.

“Quintessence, as you already know, is one of the most powerful sources of energy in the universe. What you don’t know is that it was originally discovered by a very ancient civilization of aliens, who found it spewing out of their planet’s volcanoes and such, as it came from their planet’s core. However, the energy source doubles as a remedy for most ailments, at least for certain races of aliens. Otherwise known as a panacea, it can treat almost any illness, from a common cold to xerodermanieces.” At the teen’s questioning look, Coran glanced back at him to answer, “It’s an Altean disease.”

Suddenly, the man turned around to face Keith fully, stopping his cleaning mid swipe. With his eyebrows raised and his mouth pursed, Keith was sure he was going to be questioned. His mind raced for an appropriate excuse-

“You realize that you can’t hide from the team forever Keith,” the man tisked disapprovingly, wagging a gloved finger at the paladin, “eventually you’ll have to apologize for snapping at Lance. Poor boy already has enough to deal with.”

Instead of arguing with Coran, Keith just agreed with him and resumed cleaning his last pod, he was so relieved with how the conversation had gone. It was settled. Whatever that witch or mage Galra had done to him wasn’t totally cured yet, and it would just take another round of Quintessence to get the spell out of his system. He thanked Coran for the company, who in turn thanked him for the assistance, before walking back to his room, thinking about his next course of action.

The easiest path would involve everyone in Keith’s alien problems. He would tell the team the spell was still affecting his body, they would go hunt for some Quintessence, and Keith would be cured. The only issue was…when he transformed, he transformed into a Galra. Whether or not they would mean to be cruel, he still can’t shake what he thinks would be the team’s first response to his…condition.

…He could always go in alone. He had been surviving by himself for almost a year before they had formed the team, and even before he was expelled he was used to fending for himself. He could make up an excuse about finding some inner peace on a nearby deserted planet, track some Quintessence from some Galra troops, grab the nearest bottle of the stuff, and he would be cured! Not to mention, as long as he created a decent lie, no one would have to know about the issue.

Even though he knew he would give it some more thought before taking any immediate action, the best course seemed to be to go at it solo. Not only would no one else have to know about his problem, but he could minimize risk and unnecessary casualties by not taking anyone else. Not to say that he didn’t trust his teammates to have his back on his missions, but quite the contrary; he often didn’t trust himself to be able to watch over his friends while also battling or piloting. Once he was in a zone, he was focused on nothing but the battle, to the point where any little sound or distraction could throw him off his game.

…He was always like that, actually. For some reason, he was very easily disturbed by minor annoyances, like someone tapping their fingers to a song, or a restless leg jiggling in front of him. It was part of the reason why he snapped at Lance this morning; he doesn’t mind the others observing his sparring matches, but the constant staring just at Keith, for almost two hours, stole his attention away from the fight. Of course, his being easily distracted contributed to his short temper quite a lot.

It was moments like this that he really desired some kind of familial connection, some relative who could maybe inform Keith of whether he always had these unique vices, even as a child, or if he grew up to be more cynical and impatient of others.

“Team meeting in the common room,” Shiro’s voice blasting over the Castle’s intercoms disrupted his darker thoughts. He quickly made his way to the common room, worried about the cause of such a request from their leader, especially at such a late hour.

He was the last one to arrive. Coran and Allura were nowhere to be found, Hunk was laying down on one side of the couch, Lance sitting on the other side behind Pidge, who had their back against the front of the seat. As he observed closer, he noticed Lance seemed to be braiding Pidge’s hair. Where did Lance learn to braid hair, and in what world was Pidge ok with this?

“Ok guys,” Shiro called for attention, standing in front of the group with a look of self consciousness and slight concern, “I know that we haven’t talked about what happened after everyone was lost in the wormhole,” the room became noticeable more tense, “but I think it’s important that everyone feels comfortable enough to share what they experienced. We’re still a team, a team that depends heavily on our connection to each other.”

“To start off,” he continued, “I’m going to tell you guys what happened the week I was trying to find the Castle. And no,” he interjected, noticing the teens’ looks of anxiety, “this isn’t to force you guys to tell everyone what happened right now. I just want to show you guys how much better it is to get everything off of your chest. So,” he clapped his hands once, “it started when my lion crash landed on an almost deserted planet…”

——-

“How many people are there on this planet?” the injured paladin asked as he was being treated for his serious wounds. The crash had given him a nasty concussion, and a piece of debris had lodged itself right through his stomach; Shiro would count himself lucky for surviving the ordeal, but than he remembered that the whole team had been split up in that wormhole, and all thoughts of good luck mysteriously disappeared.

“We are a small planet,” the alien treating him responded, their mouth heavy with a strong accent on top of their broken english. Shiro decided he would take whatever he could get. “Only hundred or so lived Zarkon’s invasion force. Rest are not with us longer,” they finished, looking more depressed and yet keeping their impeccable bedside manner, continuing to fuss after Shiro long after he needed anything else from the medic.

Even though he knew that he should be out looking for his team, making sure his kids were alright, he also knew how badly hurt he was. He would certainly need at least a few days to recover before he could go out searching. For now, he could keep his comms active and close, and hope that one of the other paladins or the Castle would make contact with him.

Two days later, and he was startled awake in the middle of the night by a sudden draft. While others might have ignored this draft and gone back to sleep, Shiro knew to trust his instincts, and only feigned sleep while actively listening for any signs of danger.

Suddenly, two sets of strong arms were pinning him to the medical bed, grabbing both his arms and legs. He tried to lash out with his prosthetic arm, but he was still incredibly weak, and could do no more than slash it around a good distance from his attackers.

“I wonder how much Sendak will pay to have this one returned to him,” the first one grunted to the second, grabbing his arm tighter with his words. Sendak was alive? But he was sure he had shot Sendak’s frozen body out of the Castle, into the dark corners of space. Though now, it seems obvious that Zarkon would definitely try and recover one of his best commanders.

“Who cares?” the second one replied, staring at Shiro a bit too hungrily for the paladin’s taste, “he looks just as good as when he first escaped.”

“Not to mention someone’s been keeping him well fed,” the first chuckled, groping at Shiro’s broad chest. At this point, he had gone from being disturbed at their comments about him, to terrified of what they were planning to do before they brought him to the Galra emperor.

“Get the hell off of me!” he grunted, trying to wrestle his limbs free from the alien’s strong grip.

“C’mon champion, just a quick peek,” one of them sneered, reaching for the waistband of his pants.

“Stop! Stop it! PLEASE-”

“Enough!” a voice rang out, but Shiro was too hyper focused on the situation at hand, had such tunnel vision of the horrible experience ahead of him, he didn’t notice the tall figure come barging into the room, grabbing both Galra by the scruffs of their necks and sending them barreling down the hall. The figure reached for him, and Shiro automatically lashed out, survival instincts taking over.

“Leave me alone,” he gasped, renewing his efforts to struggle free.

“Shiro, Shiro it’s me, Allura!” the figure quickly took off her helmet, revealing it was indeed the Altean princess. Shiro immediately stopped his fidgeting, and not a second after she freed him of his confinement did he reach out and wrench her into a tight hug, and if Allura noticed the slight shake of their leader’s shoulders, she didn’t mention it, not once on their flight back to the Castle.

——-

The team stared at him with a different range of emotions. Pidge looked horrified, Hunk had tears in his eyes, Lance looked lost for words, and Keith looked more nervous than anyone had ever seen him. At least that answered the question of why Allura and Coran were not part of the conversation.

“I’m fine guys,” Shiro said with a fragile smile. After one glance at the disbelieving looks, he amended, “I’m…ok. Obviously what happened was pretty…traumatizing for me, I’m sure you’ve all noticed how frequently I’ve been spacing out during conversations, but Allura so far has been helping me deal with it, teaching me new forms of meditation, and just letting me confide in her. But now,” and this time his smile seemed more than genuine, it portrayed pure trust, “I feel comfortable enough to confide in you guys. This isn’t my way to guilt you into revealing any secrets you’re not ready to share. But I want you all to know that I trust each of you unequivocally, and that I feel safe enough with you all to share this with you,” he finished a bit awkwardly, cheeks gaining a faint tint of pink.

Pidge jumped up first, leaping into Shiro’s arms for a desperate hug. Hunk came barreling next, and Keith and Lance each took one of Shiro’s arms, so that the eldest of the group was currently being bear hugged by his team.

In the back of his head, all Keith could think about was how much more Shiro must hate the Galra now. Not that he doesn’t have every right to (Keith is feeling a whole new level of shame being even associated with those rapists) but now he can’t even imagine what the team would do if they found out his secret. No, he just had to bide his time, find some Quintessence, and use it to end this whole transformation spell.

As the team broke up the hug, Hunk returning to his room, Pidge following Shiro to the training deck, Keith realized he had a more pressing issue. His eyes roamed over to the blue paladin, who was currently heading into the kitchen, probing around for a late night snack. He should apologize to Lance, he never meant to come down that strongly on him, not to mention the other teen hadn’t even snapped back at him after the incident. He silently followed him back to the main living room, sitting just out of Lance’s line of sight, trying not to gag as Lance drank some concoction of Coran’s that was green, chunky, and had the odor of cotton candy.

“Hey,” he called out, stepping in front of the darker skinned teen. Lance looked shocked that Keith was going out of his way to have a conversation with him, before replacing his facade and looking completely unimpressed.

“You here to tell me that I can’t eat or drink after my bedtime? Is that another of Keith’s new rules? Maybe I should get a guidebook, this is getting confusing-”

“I’m sorry,” he interjected bluntly, refusing to make eye contact. He continued as Lance immediately stopped his quips. “I was just really…on edge this morning and I know that everyone was staring at me to learn, but you just happened to catch my eye when I snapped and…I’m sorry,” he repeated, chancing a peek at the other’s face, face burning as red as his lion.

Lance was…smiling. And not his normal cocky grin either, but a genuinely kind smile. “Apology accepted,” he replied, rising from his seat to pat Keith on the shoulder, “I get it, we all have off days.”

“Yeah,” Keith trailed off, shocked Lance accepted his apology without any hassle, about to turn away when the other spun him around to face him again.

“Listen Keith, last night I heard some…noises, coming from your bedroom,” Lance added, concern spreading across his features, “and if you ever need to talk to anyone, I’m here. Rivalry and popularity status aside,” Keith rolled his eyes, “we’re friends first. At least, you’re my friend,” he finished quietly, a look of timidness in his eyes.

“Yeah Lance, we’re friends,” he repeated, grabbing the other’s shoulder in a mirrored pose, granting him a crooked smile, “but I’m fine, just wasn’t feeling well last night.”

“Ok,” the other answered, seemingly content, “well, see you.” He walked off, leaving Keith to wonder why he felt so much more relieved after their conversation.

——

Hours later, he was just starting to doze off in his room when the Castle’s alarm siren blared through the halls. Immediately he ran for the cockpit, nearly sliding into the wall in his rush. The whole crew was there, staring at a spot Coran was pointing to on the universal star chart. Keith sidled into the room as Allura began briefing the boys on their latest mission.

“We have just received a transmission from a nearby planet asking to join in our alliance against the Galra empire,” she reported, quite visibly ecstatic. According to the Altean princess, it was vital that they rally the support of as many planets as possible, to aid them in their journey to overcome Zarkon’s forces. “The planet of Maris, famously known for their quandarium mines, could prove quite useful as an ally. While their people are not the best fighters, they have mastered forging parts out of their precious metals. However,” she added as Coran switched around the map, “after further analyzing the data Pidge gathered from Sendak’s memories, we have gained valuable intel on the location of Pidge’s family.”

Everyone subtly looked to their youngest team member, who seemed determined to appear less enthusiastic than they felt.

“Unfortunately, the intel is incredibly time sensitive. We will need to split into teams in order to both gain the trust of the Marisians, and see if we can locate the Holts. Hunk and I will be traveling to Aeris to be the faces of Team Voltron.” It made sense to Keith; they were the friendliest of their bunch, and would be best suited for role of diplomacy.

“Shiro, you and Coran will accompany Pidge to planet Norn. Coran is familiar with the natives, and while it is a Galra base, the information is very dated. Hopefully the base has been abandoned, but remain vigilant.” The aforementioned two bolt to their lions, Coran right behind in a ship of his own.

“Princess, shouldn’t we go with them?” Keith couldn’t help but ask. Though he knew this was his best chance to sneak off to procure some Quintessence, he couldn’t do so knowing that his skills could have saved his friends from some distress.

“No, we don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention from that quadrant of the galaxy. Pidge, Shiro, and Coran will be fine, as will Hunk and myself. You and Lance are needed here, to watch over the Castle and listen for any distress calls from neighboring planets.”

“Aye, aye Captain!” Lance shot into a stiff salute, but the gleam in his eye revealed his joking manner. Allura shot him an exasperated smile before disappearing off the deck. He and Lance saw the rest of the team off, wishing them luck with their respective goals, before awkwardly standing there as their friends departed.

“So…”

“Yeah…”

“I could take first watch on the Castle?” the blue paladin offered.

“Sure, thanks,” Keith accepted with an upturn of his lips, walking back to his room, than sprinting once he was out of the other’s sight. This was it, his chance to cure himself of his mysterious ailment. He was halfway through packing for his journey to the nearest Galra base before he realized. What was he going to tell Lance?

He obviously couldn’t tell him the truth, so what lie was believable enough? What type of emergency could be so desperate that Keith had to leave, yet not urgent enough that it required all hands on deck?

…Or did he need to tell Lance anything? If he took a few shifts of Castle duty consequently, he could have Lance take the whole night shift, than sneak off and be back at the Castle in a few hours. And if Lance questioned him, he already knew he wasn’t sleeping well, he could use that as an excuse for the night off.

——

‘Not good,’ Lance thought to himself as he yawned again. It was just after ten, the time everyone usually turned in for the night, and even though he promised Keith the night off, he was falling asleep. When the other teen approached him about taking the night off to catch up on some sleep, Lance had been happy to oblige. It felt good to know that Lance was helping his friend, even if it wasn’t by actually talking out his problems, at least he could guarantee him a few hours of rest. Unfortunately, Lance had been having a few nightmares of his own recently, and was also incredibly tired.

He felt bad about waking Keith up, and felt even worse about letting his (kinda) rival know he couldn’t do something as simple as staying awake, but he would feel terrible if something happened to the Castle while he was dozing off. Deciding the shame was worth it, he headed off to Keith’s room, sprinting so as to not leave the comms unattended for long.

“Keith, man, I’m sorry but-” he had gotten out before realizing Keith wasn’t in his room, and the bathroom door was open, revealing its emptiness. Lance sprinted back to the Castle’s control deck, checking its many cameras before finally spotting Keith sneaking into his lion.

“Lo que en…?” he muttered, watching the red paladin to confirm that yes, he was leaving the ship, before rushing to get his armor on. A minute later, and Lance was out the door, running to his own lion, praying he wasn’t too late to stop Keith from whatever idiotic thing he was going to attempt.


	4. It's Not Gay if it's in Space, Right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, the scene many of you have been waiting for...
> 
> *drum roll*
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos, bookmarks, comments, and that firstborn I was promised to finish this story!
> 
> ...I'm kidding!
> 
> ...Or am I?

As soon as Keith escaped the Castle’s immediate orbit, he searched his lion’s intergalactic database for any known Galra bases within this quadrant of their galaxy. If he was ever going to find more Quintessence, he would need to steal it from the Galra, either from storage containers on an average ship, or hopefully large doses of it from a mining center. After a few minutes of searching, he decided on a nearby base, fairly small in size, but unusually well guarded, by both troops and technology. If that didn’t scream storage for most powerful energy source ever, Keith didn’t know what did. Now he just had to punch in the coordinates and-

…And what in the HELL was the blue lion doing here? Away from the Castle?!!

“C’mon, Lance,” he sighed to himself, thinking quickly about the best course of action as the other lion rapidly approached his own. If he left now, he might be able to lose the other paladin; his lion was much faster than Lance’s. It would save his secret from being revealed, and…and than he risked losing Lance in space, just like when he was sucked into the wormhole.

So that wasn’t an option. Only thing left to do was let Lance board his lion and convince him to stay with the Castle.

——

All he had to do was convince Keith to come back to the Castle. He had no idea why the mullet brained teen would pull a stunt as idiotic as this, but it couldn’t be more important than waiting for their friends in case of an emergency. Once their lions were in range of one another, he lowered his bridge, silently praying that Keith wouldn’t pull something reckless like make Lance chase him halfway across the solar system.

Thankfully, the other half of the bridge was lowered, and Lance ran across the makeshift hallway, trying to decide if he should approach this…situation.

Lance took a second to glance out the window to make sure his lion had returned to the Castle, deciding he could approach this issue with a level head.

“KEITH!” Well…anger and indignation worked just as well, right? “What the HELL do you think you’re doing?!” he shouted as he continued into the red lion’s cockpit, only slightly taken aback by Keith’s unusually frightened expression.

“Listen Lance, I’ve been…having a rough time, and I just need to fly around a bit to clear my head,” he explained carefully, and Lance might have bought his excuse if it wasn’t for the other’s slight hesitation.

But Lance decided to play along, see how long Keith could keep up his little charade. “Oh, ok, well how about TELLING ME that you’re leaving instead of acting like a FELON ON THE RUN!” he replied, partially meaning his words even if he knew Keith’s reasoning was completely untrue.

“I’m sorry, I just…I-I didn’t think,” he stuttered, and if Lance wasn’t as furious he might have noticed the slight sheen of sweat covering the boy’s face, but he wasn’t about to be deterred.

“Whatever, I’ll just expect you back within an hour,” he continued, daring the other to give him a reason for being longer.

Keith was just about to respond when something caught the latino’s eye.

“Are those coordinates to…to a GALRA BASE?! KEITH! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, YOU- QUIZNAK!” he shouted, interrupted by the lion’s sudden lurching. He turned just in time to see Keith’s fist heading straight for his face. He ducked, staring at the other in disbelief before exploding yet again. “KEITH, WHAT IS GOING ON? WHY ARE YOU SNEAKING AWAY TO A GALRA BASE? WHY DID YOU JUST TRY TO-“

“Shut up!” Keith roared, charging after the lankier teen. “I’m really sorry Lance, but you can’t be conscious for this!”

After colliding, they both wound up on the floor, wrestling to get to the controls of the ship.

“Keith, stop-”

“I’m just gonna bring you back to the Castle-”

“We’re BOTH going back-”

With a snarl that was almost feral, Keith used strength that Lance thought would rival Allura’s to push him back against the wall. Before he could even catch his breath, the lion was in motion, and Lance was knocked to the floor by the sheer velocity of the ship, snapping his eyes shut to try and stave off the oncoming bout of nausea.

Once the ship had finally reached its destination, it slowed to a stop, right outside the orbit of what appeared to be a fairly small planet. Lance slowly recovered his balance, looking around for the red paladin, before realizing he wasn’t in the room.

“Keith?” he called out, anger momentarily replaced with growing concern. Said concern only doubled when he heard sobs in reply to his call. He tried to run before wincing, looking down to check himself for any injuries. Other than minor scrapes and bruises, his only debilitating injury was his ankle, which while might not have been broken, was definitely levels above sprained. He continued on, using the walls for support as he approached the private quarters of the lion.

“Keith?” he spoke against the door, pressing his ear up to listen for any response. He only received sniffles. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.” A chuckle. “What? I’ll have you know, Keith Kogane, that I could seriously injure you if I saw fit,” he joked slightly, hoping the distraction would lead to Keith opening the door. Another chuckle, yet the door was not budging. He didn’t want to play this card, but…

“Keith, can you just let me in to lay down? My…my ankle’s really messed up, it kinda hurts to stand on,” he added, feeling guilty for playing the pity card, even if it was just to check on Keith. The sniffles abruptly stopped, and the door was gently pushed open enough that a crack of light flooded the darkly lit room.

He reaches for the light switch when he hears a low growl emanate from somewhere in the room.

“…Keith?” he most definitely doesn’t whimper, wondering what he’s just locked himself in with, wondering how just ten minutes ago his most pressing issue was asking Keith to help with watching the comms to grant him some rest, and now it’s trying to escape whatever creature has made it’s way onto the ship.

“Go away,” a voice that…sounds like Keith’s croaks from inside the room. He hears the sniffles continue, only more insistent than before.

“C’mon Keith, I’m crippled here, I just need the light for a tick to move to…the…” he trails off as he turns on the lights, staring at what he thought was Keith in the corner of the room.

But since WHEN was Keith PURPLE and FURRY and WHERE WERE HIS PUPILS AND?! And he was just standing there, holding his breath, unbelieving of this new information even though his eyes were actually seeing it-

He was snapped out of his shock when the Galra (no, Keith) started audibly crying, burying his head into his knees, his shoulders shaking minutely. Suddenly it didn’t matter what Keith was, just that Lance knew that his friend needed him, right now, and he hobbled his way over to him as fast as his ankle would allow. Unfortunately, rushing was not a good idea with his injury, and he quickly toppled over, the floor rushing to greet his face-

-or, it would have, if Keith hadn’t somehow grabbed him even though he was just across the room, Dios mi-

“I’m so sorry!” the boy exclaims, seemingly torn between helping Lance to the couch and not making physical contact. His whole body is trembling, so visibly that Lance swears he’s vibrating. “Did I hurt your ankle? Oh god, did I break it? God, Lance, I’m so- I didn’t mean to-” and now the poor guy’s gasping so frequently he’s starting to hyperventilate, so Lance does the only thing he knows to calm him down. He grabs Keith’s shoulders and holds him close to his chest, choosing to ignore the very noticeable wince at the close proximity, and rests his head on top of Keith’s. He always did this when one of his younger siblings was scared or nervous, and he just hopes it’s helping Keith now.

“I’m sorry,” he just repeats, over and over, and Lance, ever the genius, just says the first thing he thinks of.

“Sorry for what?”

At that the other takes a step back and explodes, funnily enough starting to resemble himself more and more with each sentence. “For what?! How about sneaking out of the Castle? Or kidnapping you? How about breaking your fucking ankle?” His voice grows in volume with each word, and though he seems angry, only an idiot would miss that Keith was still violently trembling. Lance reaches for him again, and Keith obliges, knowing Lance can’t physically move closer to him without putting pressure on his foot.

“You didn’t kidnap me,” he starts, his mind desperately trying to compartmentalize the present issues, “and you didn’t break my ankle.” At Keith’s disbelieving look, he amends, “my ankle may be broken, but you didn’t break it.” Once he finishes, he suddenly realizes that he is petting the other teen, emphasis on pet since he just realizes Keith has actual fur, a fact Keith seems to only just remember as well, since he pulls away from Lance again, albeit less harshly this time.

“…Don’t look,” he whispers, folding into himself again.

“Keith-”

“The exact reason I snuck out was to prevent something like this from happening!” he mutters to himself in frustration.

“Wait…this has happened before?!”

———

After giving Lance the full rundown of his last week, Keith feels a bit better, like this tight feeling in his chest has suddenly released its hold on him. Instead of that though, he has this crushing fear and mounting insecurity: how was Lance taking this news? Would he swear off their newly formed friendship, would he tell the rest of the team? Or worst of all, what if he brought him to some Galra occupied planet, abandoning him with his true race? As Lance took longer and longer to respond to Keith’s tale, he grew more and more anxious, until finally Lance grabbed his shoulder. He glanced up.

“I know that right now this is going to sound really cliche and cheesy, but…you’re still…you, you know? I mean, its not like you’re a totally different person now. You’re still equally as much of an asshole as you were before the spell,” he smiled, going for some levity yet again. It works, and Keith cracks a small smile before gathering the courage to ask Lance…

“Could you please not tell the team? At least, not yet. I want to have some Quintessence on hand before I reveal this to them.”

“Why? What good will Quintessence do in our family interventions?” he added jokingly until he glanced again at Keith’s face.

“I want to be able to prove to them that I’m still human,” he revised his previous statement, “when I show them…this, I don’t want to be stuck like this until I can calm down.”

“So that’s what causes this? Stress? Maybe anxiety?”

“Probably a combination of the two,” he answers, “along with some physical stress as well.”

“And Quintessence- that energy source Coran said was super powerful- you think that can…cure you, but permanently?” he asks tepidly, not wanting to reveal how ridiculous the solution sounds, at least to him.

“It worked last time,” Keith said, although with growing hesitation in his voice. 

“Keith, I know you don’t want to tell the others, and in any other situation I would leave the decision up to you, but…this is dangerous, and we could really use everyone’s help trying to gather Quintessence,” he confides. He realizes that right now he’s walking the thin line between a friend’s confidence and doing what is best for Keith. He can either leave Keith to his original (and incredibly risky) plan or he could betray Keith’s trust by telling the others.

Sure enough, Keith’s reaction is less than ideal. His ears prick up, his claws extend further out of his hands, and his fangs are starting to elongate, almost like a feral cat sensing a nearby danger. But Lance refuses to be intimidated; it doesn’t matter what Keith does right now, he knows the red paladin would never intentionally hurt him.

They both stare at each other, both refusing to lose ground, when Lance finally looks away, conceding.

“The more time we waste arguing, the longer we’re away from the Castle and the comms. So let’s get this over with,” he mutters, heading back to the cockpit. Keith breathes a sigh of relief before joining him.

“Ok, I’ll set a course for the Castle-”

“Wait, what,” Lance interrupts, “the Castle? Why?”

“To drop you off,” Keith replies as if the answer was obvious.

“I’m not letting you travel to a heavily guarded Galra base to try and steal some of their most precious materials in an unknown quadrant of space by yourself,” he answered in the same manner.

“Lance, the whole point of me going alone-”

“Was so that the team would never have to know.”

“Yeah, but,” Keith added, “it was also so that no one would get hurt. I work best by myself. I don’t have to worry about anyone else, I can watch my own back-”

“You are actually the most ridiculous person I have ever met, and I have eight younger siblings,” Lance glared at him, in disbelief at how dense Keith could be, “we are going together to better our chances of escaping alive. If you have a problem with that, I’ll go back and…and-”

“And what?” Keith challenged.

“I’ll tell them,” he said simply. He felt horrible about it, but this went beyond not asking the rest of the team for help. He was going with Keith, even if it meant losing his friendship; it was worth it to make sure the other teen would escape unscathed.

“You wouldn’t,” Keith retorted, a bit stunned.

“I would,” Lance reaffirmed, standing straighter than before, “I don’t care if you wind up hating me for the rest of your life, as long as you have a rest of your life to live.”

At that statement Keith’s features softened, and a small but genuine smile quirked his lips. “Fine.”

——

Lance was currently piloting the red lion to the nearest Galra base. They agreed that Keith needed more rest, but that Lance fought better after coming out of a nap, so Keith would get the majority of the time to sleep, but Lance would take a quick power nap before landing.

After a moment and a silent decision, Lance set the lion on autopilot, before returning to Keith’s private quarters. The room was incredibly bare, and had no touch, theme, or flavor to it. Lance crept in, not that surprised that Keith had returned to his normal human form. He also noticed how young Keith looked when he was sleeping. His permanent scowl smoothed out, his striking features softened- wait, striking features?!

…Great, he groaned as he made his way back to the cockpit, so not only was he attracted to his former rival, but he was attracted to a half alien. Lance was officially a furry; Pidge would never let him live it down if they found out.

Other than the fact that this new attraction was towards Keith, Lance wasn’t surprised by this sudden crush. He knew he was bisexual, and while he was more often drawn to women than men, he had had a few crushes on boys, especially during his time in the Garrison. Hunk and Pidge already knew, and while he was sure the rest of the team wouldn’t think twice about it, he had never actually told them. Not that he was hiding the fact, but hey, sorry he doesn’t carry around his bisexuality permit.

…Besides, it’s not gay if it’s in space, right?

——

Keith blearily rubbed his eyes as he woke up, before realizing the events of the past few hours and ran to the nearest reflective surface. Pink skin, no furry ears; he breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn’t wait to finally track down some Quintessence, to finally feel normal again…or as normal as he was usually. Getting into his armor, a quick glance at the clock told him that Lance had let him sleep in. Idiot, the other teen hadn’t slept in over eighteen hours, at least. He was just exiting his room when he was knocked over, containing an armful of blue paladin.

“Lance, what the-”

“We have a problem,” the other stressed, grabbing Keith to help him rise to his feet. Both boys took off in the direction of the cockpit, racing while the lion’s sirens started blaring throughout the ship.

——

Beep…

An echo in the halls of the Castle of Lions…

Beep…

Comms blaring at an insistent volume and pace…

Beep…

One word flashing across the main screen…

EMERGENCY.


	5. We Interrupt this Program to Check in with our Other Paladins...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did someone ask for multiple point of view switches, pansexual Allura, and aggressively protective Keith?
> 
> ...No? Just me...?
> 
> *winks*

“C’mon Shiro!” Pidge shouted, impatience evident in their voice. The green and black paladin had been wandering the planet for a few hours now, after the incident that started this whole mess…

—-

Pidge felt a bit guilty that they were hardly paying attention to Coran’s lecture about planet Norn over their comms, but they were too focused on their own train of thought. The intel they had received about their father and brother mentioned that the Holt family had just been moved to this planet, however the motive was unclear. While Pidge could assume it had something to do with their fields of expertise, they weren’t sure how useful two humans could be to the Galra and their advanced technologists and scientists. Whatever the reason, they had concrete evidence that the Holts were at Norn; whether they were still there was what the team had to find out.

Pidge also knew that Shiro wasn’t exactly feeling like himself; he had just confessed to the team what had happened while he was separated from the other paladins. The thought of Shiro being at the Galra’s mercy like that made Pidge’s blood boil. They had already lost one father, they weren’t going to lose another.

There was a clear schism Pidge was experiencing right now. On one hand, Shiro accompanying the team on the mission would make it go much smoother, and they would have a higher chance of locating Pidge’s family. The only problem was that Shiro’s post traumatic stress (even though he hadn’t specifically named it, Pidge knew P.T.S.D. and its symptoms) was keeping him from operating at his best, to the point where he was almost a liability. He would space out during mission briefs, panic during battles, and hyperventilate at the thought of being in the same room as a Galra soldier.

It wasn’t that Pidge was annoyed by Shiro’s behavior, but this was their brother and father. If Pidge ever truly needed Shiro’s paternal guidance and garrison training, it was now. With Shiro out of commission, the only one Pidge could turn to was…

…the Altean that was currently trying to land his escape pod in line with their lions while being inconspicuous. The paladins winced at the loud crash that rocked the area, before giving each other a slight smile. Hopefully Coran would still be familiar enough with the natives that they could get their information easily. After all, they’re a primitive race…

—-

If only they could feel as optimistic at they did a few hours ago. Not only did the Nornans doubt their intentions, their leader asked for a private audience with Coran…three hours ago. Pidge and Shiro waited as patiently as they could, but after the first hour Pidge was getting anxious. They needed to know if their father and brother were on the planet as soon as possible, and this diplomacy, while important, should be handled after they tracked down their family. After the second hour, Pidge stormed in, breaking up the meeting between the Altean and the Nornan emperor. Unfortunately, the Nornans seemed to highly value respectable manners, and Pidge’s ‘blasphemous’ act of ‘interrupting the emperor’ was met with the kidnapping of Coran- well, Coran went with them willingly, but only because he knew it was either go voluntarily or be met with force, so Pidge still counted it as kidnapping. Now they had to find the Holts and Coran, all while trying to keep Shiro’s tentative sanity in tact.

The black and green paladins trudged through the remains of an abandoned Galra base. Thankfully that part of the intel had not been too dated- Pidge couldn’t help but hope that it was also accurate about their family’s whereabouts. The intel, coming from a Nornan ally who was currently watching over Coran, explained that the Holts were being used to complete some form of experiments. While at first Pidge was horrified by the information, they calmed down when realizing Matt and their father were not the test subjects, but served as aides to the Galra scientists. The type of experiments being conducted were unknown, stating only that each test required a huge surge of energy that would leave the small planet in a temporary blackout.

The thought of their family being forced to conduct such dangerous experiments makes their heart skip a beat. Best case scenario of this mission, they find some notes from the lab pertaining to the experiments, along with some more information to continue the trail. Worst case scenario, the trail would end here, after finding out that-

“Pidge?” Shirt’s voice rang out with a tinge of exasperation. Pidge startled before turning to face the other paladin, who was currently using his prosthetic arm to leverage a door open, “You ready?”

Pidge knew that the older man was not just asking if they were ready to move on, but if they were ready for the truth. They nodded before stepping inside the lab.

——

Coran knew if he had to spend another tic listening to these Nornans make small talk he would pull his mustache right off his upper lip. He remembered that the Nornans valued respect, but this level of politeness was beyond what even he had been expecting. Sure, the Altean had been through far worse experiences, but it was agonizing knowing that Pidge and Shiro could be in serious danger while he was here eating some kind of Norn delicacy. Unfortunately he couldn’t just up and leave the castle he had been taken to either. Even though he had willingly travelled with the emperor to his home, he had only done so knowing that opposition would lead to someone (probably himself) getting hurt.

He just had to think of the most respectable way to ask to leave the table and speak with the emperor in private, without alerting the whole crew. Thankfully the team’s informant for the mission was also seated at the abnormally small table, and after making some subtle eye contact, slinked her way over to Coran’s side.

“Agaria,” he whispered to the shorter alien, “I need an audience with the emperor.”

“You shall have it,” she whispered back, her one eye staying focused at a fixed point in the center of the table. “I am going to cause a distraction of some sorts. When the others have the attention on I, you will sneak into emperor’s throne room. You have few tics to quietly reach throne room. Others will not realize you are not here.”

Coran had to admit, it was a decent plan. The only problem being-

“What about you?”

“Friends,” she said simply, blue lips crooking into a smile, “will think I am ill of some sort, will not react to me like how they did to you previously.”

“Ok,” he agreed, content with the knowledge that Agaria would not suffer for this plan to work, “whenever you’re ready…wait, what kind of distraction, exact-”

SPLAT

——

“So Lance has always been attracted to men?”

“Not just men,” Hunk grunted, cutting through some more foliage to clear the path for Allura and himself, “he’s attracted to both genders. On our planet, we call it bisexual.” A few years ago Hunk would never dream of outing his best friend to another person, alien or human, but now Lance was thankfully comfortable enough with his sexuality that Hunk knew the only reason Allura was unaware was simply because the topic never arose. If anything, Hunk was amazed Lance had made it this long without telling any bi jokes or gay puns.

“Interesting,” the princess thought aloud, adjusting her bun as she yanked a thick branch out of the way, “on Altea we do not have this…bisexual. We Alteans are attracted to one’s inner thoughts, not their physical form.”

“We have something like that,” Hunk commented, “called pansexuality.” This was fun, actually. Between all of the life and death situations, they never really got a chance to educate each other about their own cultures. The most Hunk knew about Alteans was that they could shape shift, they had incredible strength, and they measured time in tics instead of seconds. Other than that, Hunk knew nothing about the Alteans.

And he was determined to learn more about the Alteans, because as far as the team knew, Coran and Allura were the only two left. Hunk wanted to learn as much about Altea and its inhabitants as he could, to be able to keep the memory of the Alteans living on…and also to sate his own curiosity.

It was also pretty amusing seeing Allura’s reactions to Earth and human traditions. At first, she had been baffled by the concept of being attracted to only one gender, and was still slightly confused by people that didn’t fit into the typical two genders.

“So, Pidge is biologically a female, but dresses as a male, yet technically classifies as neither, which is called…non-binary,” she recites slowly, trying the foreign word on her tongue, “which is why we refer to them in gender neutral third person terms? On Altea these things were much simpler.”

“Yeah, well, Earth is still playing a bit of catch up,” Hunk smirks, reminiscing to lectures in history class about a time where these concepts were very controversial.

They both continued on their trek to reach the capital of Maris, where Allura had informed him the monarchy resided. It was important that they not only gained the trust of the Marisians to protect them, but also to see if they could equip the lions with a few upgrades. Maybe they could even teach Hunk a few forging tricks-

“Hunk,” the princess called, snapping the paladin out of his daydream. He looked at her expectantly, but she seemed unusually uncertain of her next words.

“What is it, Allura?”

“…When all of you had disappeared into the wormhole, Coran and I spent weeks tirelessly searching for you. There were times where I felt almost too weak to stand, let alone power the Castle, yet something got me through it. And it wasn’t the thought of losing the paladins of Voltron, it was the thought of losing…my friends,” she stopped herself, taking a deep breath before chancing a smile at the larger man.

“Hunk, you are one the kindest beings I have had the pleasure to meet. You are also incredibly honest and forthright, which is why I have to ask you…why did Keith want to leave me behind?”

THUNK. His head slammed into a low hanging branch. “W-Why do you think Keith would leave you behind?” he stuttered, eyes wide.

“When you all disappeared, it was my idea to watch some video footage of the Castle from the earlier day, to see if there were any clues as to your whereabouts relating to the Castle’s past locations. Of course,” she interjected at his suspicious glance, “I’m not ashamed to admit I was a bit nosy. I wanted to know how you all handled a mission of that magnitude with almost no forewarning. I was simultaneously touched and worried that the rest of you were so set on rescuing me, but Keith just…” she trailed off. It almost looked like her eyes were misting when she finished with a small, “did I do something wrong?”

“No, Princess, it wasn’t anything you did,” Hunk assured her, gently grabbing her arm in reassurance, “and Keith didn’t mean anything when he said that. It’s just, Keith’s- he…” He thought of the best way to word this. “Let me put it this way. If Keith was taken by the Galra, we would do anything to save him, right?”

“Of course.”

“Yeah well, Keith would not only not want us to save him, he wouldn’t expect us to either. And no,” he added quickly, “it’s not because he thinks we don’t care about him. It’s just… the mentality he grew up with. None of us really know much about Keith from before he joined the Garrison, and we still don’t know exactly why he was expelled. But for a big majority of his life, Keith was totally independent. If he got in trouble, he couldn’t count on anyone to save him. It’s probably why he decided to go after Zarkon on his own,” he mused, thinking of how close Keith was to…

“Hunk,” the princess said clearly, “when we get back, we need to make sure the team is alright. After what happened to Shiro, Lance and Pidge acting a bit strange, and now this business with Keith, we should make sure everyone is feeling comfortable around each other.”

Hunk couldn’t agree more, and nodded his assent. As they continued on, his thoughts drifted to Lance and Keith. He really hoped they were able to have a serious conversation about their friendship while they were alone in the Castle- scratch that, he just hoped they were alright.

——-

“THIS IS SO NOT ALRIGHT!” the blue paladin shouted, struggling to limp along as Keith half carried, half dragged him to the lion’s cockpit.

“What’s wrong?!” Keith asked as he raced to the seat, leading Lance to support himself on the back of the chair.

“While you were out, we started to enter the atmosphere of the planet of the Galra base. Once we got close, some huge cannon blasted right at us! I tried to dodge the beam, but it was so wide it still managed to clip us! WE’RE GOING DOWN!”

“Yes, Lance, I can see that!” he grunted, pulling at the controls with all his strength, “c’mon Red, c’mon!”

Both boys shouted as the lion struggled to slow its accelerating descent. There was no way they would survive the impact. Keith’s eyes roamed wildly, searching for a way to survive the landing.

“Keith, the cannon!”

“I see it Lance!”

“No, your cannon! On the lion! If you fire it straight at the ground-”

“It might work as a thruster to slow the fall,” he finished, half impressed Lance thought of it. He activated the cannon, setting it to full power before blasting it straight down at the planet.  
The lurch of the lion being slowed by the blast shook Lance’s balance, and with his ankle in too much pain to stop his fall, he slammed his head into the side of the cockpit.

“LANCE,” Keith shouted, grabbing for the paladin, than looking out the view of the lion. Even though the cannon had slowed the descent, they still wouldn’t survive the impact. Without a second thought, he slammed a button on the dashboard, opening a side hatch on the lion. He held Lance’s body tight, waiting for the right moment, and jumped out of the lion, hoping they would survive the fall, hoping Lance’s head wasn’t hurt, hoping they wouldn’t land too far from Red-

-hoping for a miracle.

——

“…the hell happened?”

“Look at the trees. They probably broke the branches on their fall down.”

“…paladins? But where are the lions?”

“Take them back to the base.”

Keith tried to focus, but it wasn’t long before he slipped back into unconsciousness.


	6. All Around Me Are Familiar Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TWO updates in TWO days?! Yeah, I'm awesome... ;)
> 
> Anyway, since this is still a klance fic, this chapter will focus solely on them.
> 
> Again, thanks for all the support for this story! Really means the world to me!

“LANCE!” Keith came to with a sudden jerk, whipping his head around to find his friend.

What had happened? He remembered landing, than someone…found them? It was very hazy, but he distinctly recalled being picked up and moved from their crash site.

He went to move when a sudden pull stopped him. Not only were his arms chained behind his back, but another chain connected the floor of the cell to a collar tight around his neck.

…Well, that seemed a bit excessive. No matter, he still had to get out and find Lance. The only problem being that he could barely see the cell he was trapped in, it was so blindingly dark. After testing out the strength of the chains, he took a moment to plan his next moves. Maybe if he waited for someone to check on him, a guard of some sort…but that could take too long, and Lance had not only been taken, he was injured too.

“Hey!!” he shouted, his voice hoarse from disuse. He shook the chains to make an obnoxious clanking sound.

“Knock it off!” a voice answered, opening a slit in the door that flooded the room with a stark light.

“Come in here and make me!” He smirked at the telltale sound of a lock being opened.

“You better watch your mouth, paladin-”

“Where is he?!” Damn, he thought he was going to play it cooler than that, but apparently his concern for Lance outweighed his plan to subtly interrogate the guard.

The guard chuckled. While the light was towards the back of the guard, Keith could make out by the silhouette’s ears that he was a Galra soldier, which likely meant they were in the very base they had been trying to-

“You won’t even recognize him when we’re done.”

That mother-

“YOU SICK FUCK! If you hurt him, I swear I am going to TEAR YOU TO-”

The air left his lungs as he doubled over from the swift kick to the gut.

“Please, without your lions you paladins are weak, insignificant humans. And you get hurt so easily, all it takes is a sharp edge or enough force and your soft skin splits open. Normally I don’t care to watch the interrogations, but there was something satisfying about watching your partner get beat senseless.”

He was barely hearing him at this point, all he could see was red, red, red-  
“And once we got a few hours in, he started screaming, and screaming, sometimes in another tongue. And than,” he had the gall to laugh outright, “than the experiments began-”

CHINK. The chains snapped as he let out a feral roar, and he pounced on the guard with speed he didn’t know he possessed. He lashed out at him, beating him into a pulp, but stopped short at the sound of footsteps.

He growled before taking off the opposite direction, again moving faster than he ever had before. He slid to a stop at a corner, sneaking a glance before stopping to catch his breath. A glint caught the corner of his eye, but it was only the window-

Oh. Well, that explained the sudden burst of strength and speed. He took a moment to study his reflection.

He was small in stature for a Galran. Apparently that didn’t diminish his alien abilities. Maybe he could use this to his advantage.

He retraced his steps, careful to avoid the sentries on duty, before finding the guard that he had wailed on. He dragged him into the cell before removing his armor, and than snapping it on himself. It was a bit large for him, but if he moved quickly enough maybe no one would notice. He left the guard in the cell, but not before giving him a solid whack to the skull for good measure.

Now disguised, he still actively avoided the patrols, but felt a bit more secure if someone were to glance at him. He roamed the halls for a while, looking for the other prisoner cells, before stumbling on a room that let out a pulsating glow. He moved closer before sneaking a peek.

The quintessence. THIS was where they stored it. He stared as hundreds of Galra moved around the room, each performing a task as efficiently as if they were a swarm of bees. One hive mind, working together to harvest, gather, and store the material. His mind was already mapping out possible ways to steal the material-

Lance. He had to find Lance first, no question. He tried to memorize the location of the room, before determinedly moving on.

—-

About an hour later, he stumbled on a window into what seemed like a prison yard. Dozens of prisoners, all different species, were gathered here, being watched by two guards and locked away by a thick door made out of some foreign alloy. He tested out the windows, confirming that they were made out of some incredibly strong material as well.

No matter how hard he searched, he couldn’t spot Lance in the crowd of prisoners. He wanted to set these people free, but couldn’t decide if he should track down Lance first, or use the break out as a form of distraction.

Whatever he decided, he would have to decide fast. Some primal part of his brain was urging him to keep looking for Lance, to find him as fast as possible. Keith had survived trusting his instincts, and wouldn’t stop listening to them now.

But how to go about this?

——

“Halt!” one of the two guards stopped him, “what is your business here, cadet?”

The bad news about this armor’s ranking was that he couldn’t just order the two guards away from their post. However, he could get away with acting as clueless as he truly felt. “There’s apparently a problem with the new prisoner? The paladin,” he added, smoothing on an extra layer of confusion.

The two guards shrugged at each other before ordering him to stand guard while they investigated. Wow…Allura wasn’t kidding about the Galra being gullible. Keith tried not to ponder about how that stereotype affected him, being half Galran. The prisoners regarded the new guard, some looking at him with the same face of disdain, others staring with open curiosity. He waited for the door to slam shut, than faced away from the windows so that passing guards wouldn’t recognize him or read his lips.

“Listen everyone! I am a paladin of Voltron, and I am here to help you escape! When I open these doors, we are going to rush out there, take down those Galran soldiers, and run for the exits. If we get far enough, we can make it to my lion and get off this planet. Now, who’s with me?!”

…Silence.

“Aren’t the paladins of Voltron human?” a woman called out, singling herself out from the crowd. She seemed more confident than the rest, a human of about fifty or so, with a long scar running jagged down her pale face. She put a hand on her hip, staring at him with steely gray eyes, expecting a response.

“I…am human, most of the time. This is just a disguise,” he lied. It wasn’t that he felt uncomfortable telling these strangers the truth, it would just take too long to explain the whole story. “Look, I know this seems strange, but I’m not forcing anyone to leave. I’m just letting you know that when this door opens, alarms will start blaring, and you will have your opportunity. Whether or not you make use of it doesn’t matter to me.”

He really hoped at least some would run. Not only for their sake, but for his own. The crowd looked to the older woman for guidance. Keith couldn’t help but wonder how an older human had taken charge amongst a group of stronger, more advanced aliens, yet sensed her clear leadership.

She stalked up to him, her movements graceful yet appearing almost lethal. After a brief moment, she smiled and extended her hand.  
“Hello paladin of Voltron, you can call me Lin. You can depend on us for support. Thank you for the rescue.”

She spoke clearly yet concisely, as if she saw no point in using more words than necessary. He nodded before turning to the door and, taking a deep breath, slammed the door open.

He and Lin barely had enough time to move out of the way of the wave of people rushing out of the door. Sure enough, alarms blared at the escape of the convicts, but Keith still had a few things to take care of. He turned in the direction of the cells but was greeted by Lin standing right in front of him.

“Where to?”

“Uhh, don’t you wanna get out of here?!” he asked urgently.

“I’m assuming a paladin of Voltron has an important mission to complete. I want to help,” she said simply, “that is, if you are the red paladin.”

“Whatever, lady- wait, how did you know-”

“Only the red paladin would try to take down a Galra prison without a plan.” They both set off running.

“LANCE. LANCE!” he shouted down the halls, hoping he would hear him, or that he was even conscious.

“Keith!” a familiar voice attempted to yell, sounding weak. Keith took off, attempting to follow his calls.

“Keith…?” the woman murmured questioningly, slowing down a bit. The two finally found the room Lance was being kept in, which was being guarded by a Galra soldier almost double the average size, and triple Keith’s. His stature was all Keith could be bothered to notice, he was too busy staring at Lance, or more appropriately, at Lance’s injuries-

-and there were a lot of them. There was so much dried blood caked on his body, his head was wrapped in some type of bandage, his ankle was bent at an impossible angle…Keith felt that familiar anger rising in him again, turning back to face the soldier with a burning intensity.

“Hello Paladin,” he greeted, using the term like a title of sorts, “I assume you are here to recover your partner?” He cracked his neck before slowly moving towards Keith, the two of them beginning to circle each other. His mind was racing with battle possibilities, weighing his advantages and disadvantages, when suddenly Lin appeared out of nowhere, brandishing a scalpel from the interrogation table. She slashed at a few points that while appearing non fatal to a human, seemed to greatly affect the Galra soldier. His knees buckled as he let out a roar, desperately trying to staunch the bleeding.

Keith was too busy to be impressed. He rushed over to Lance, not knowing where to touch that wouldn’t further injure the boy.  
“Hey Keith,” the darker teen murmured, eyes struggling to stay open, “about time you showed up.”

“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” he said without sarcasm. He was too distracted to be witty right now, and Lance’s injuries looked so painful…

“Chill, Kogane,” he got out before finally losing consciousness, eyes rolling in the back of his head.

CRASH. Keith turned around to see Lin, who had been investigating the room, had spilled the surgical instruments to the floor, staring at him in disbelief.

“Lin, what-”

“Damn Kogane!” the Galra shrieked. Keith was about to respond when the soldier added, “I knew transferring you here would only cause trouble!”

Kogane…

The similarity, her intimate knowledge of the Galra…

The way she was looking at him like she had just recovered a lost fortune.

“…Mom?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNN

**Author's Note:**

> Like the tags say, it's my first fic on this website, so if anyone is into it, leaving support would be very appreciated!


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